Apparatus for heating blooms or other articles of metal



(No Model.)

A. J. MOXHAM.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING BLOOMS OR OTHER ARTICLES 0P METAL.

Patented Mar. 30, 1897.

Inventor.

Witnesses.

Attorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCE.

ARTHUR J. llIOXIlAM, OF JOHNb'lOlVN, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING BLOOMS OR OTHER ARTICLES OF METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,597, dated March30, 1897. Application filed November 4, 1890. Serial No. 370,359. (Nomodel.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. MOXHAM, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Johnstown, county of Oambria and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatusfor Heating Blooms or other Articles of Metal, of which the following isa full, clear, and

. exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists, essentially, in di rectlysurrounding the articleto be treated by a conductor adapted to carry the electric current,which, when the current is passed, heats said article.

My invention is especially applicable to the heating of blooms, and itwill be herein described more particularly with reference to the heatingof blooms, although it is applicable to the heating of any articledesired.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, the larger portion in section, of myimproved furnace with appurtenances thereto. Fig. 2 isa plan view of thesame with the cover removed.

The outer casing Z) of the furnace is constructed of fire-brick. Withinthe lire-brick casing b is placed a lining of non-conductive infusiblematerial a, such, for instance, as asbestos or magnesia. Embedded inthis material o. is the coil of wire or other electric conductor 9, andwithin and so as to be surrounded by the coil is the bloom B to beheated.

The furnace is provided with a cover, as shown in Fig. 1, which ishinged to the main portion of the furnace, as shown at 7L.

m is the handle whereby the cover is lifted or swung upward on its hingeh, 3 and j being a locking device whereby the cover is secured in itsclosed position. The joint between the cover and furnace may be packedwith non-conductive infusible material The cover is constructed in thesame manner as the body of the furnace--to wit, of an outer casing 72 offire-brick and an internal lining of non-conductive infusible materiala, in which is embedded the coil 'r,.within which coil and so as to besurrounded by it rests the upper end of the bloom B.

The lower end of the bloom l3 rests on a lire-brick seat-support, and,as may be seen from Fig. 1, the bloom extends upward beyond the body ofthe furnace and into the cover, so that when the bloom is heated and thecover opened the upper portion of the bloom is exposed above the body ofthe furnace, so that the crane may be attached to the bloom without anymotion of the bloom, thus avoiding the necessity of having interiormechanism.

0 is a wire leading from the negative pole of the source ofcurrent-sumily. This wire is secured to the binding-post on the pipe 1),so as to be in contact with the wire which passes through said pipe pand is connected to the coil 1'. If desired, the wire 0 may passdirectly through pipe 17. This pipe 1) is held in place by the strip 5secured to the outer surface of the furnace.

p is a pipe through which passes a wire, one end being connected to theupper end of the coil 1'. A binding-post connects this wire with a wireu, which passes to pipe p the wire which passes through said pipep beingconnected to the lower end of coil 1" in the cover of the furnace. Awire connected to the upper end of coil 2" passes through pipe 1/ and isconnected to wire 0, which leads to the positive pole of the source ofcurrentsupply. Instead of connecting the coil 0' and coil 1 in serieswith the source of currentsupply they may be independently connected.

(Z is apipe leading from source of gas-supply to the interior of thefurnace, through which a reducing-gas may be passed.

6 is a pipe leading from the interior of said furnace to the outer air,said pipe beingprovided with the weighted valve V, and through whichpipe the inclosed air or gas may pass.

The current being turned on, the coils 1' and 7" will become highlyheated and will in turn heat the bloom. The lining (1. prevents any lossof electricity, and the influx of gas will prevent the heating of thebloom affecting its composition.

As may be seen, my method has this great advantage that the heatproduced is absorbed directly by the article to be heated without themedium of any intervening vessel, and I need only sufficient currentstrength and conductors to supply as many heat-units as the bloom willabsorb to bring it to the de sired temperature and to produce it asrapidly as it is absorbed.

hen the bloom is heated to the desired temperature, the current is cutoff and the hinged cover opened When from the fact of the upper portionof the bloom being exposed above the body of the furnace the bloom canbe readily removed, as hereinbefore described.

Having now fully described my invention, What I claim, and desire toprotect by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for heating blooms or other articles of metal, afurnace composed of abody and cover, the outer shell of said furnacebeing formed of fire-brick or similar material, aliningofnon-conductive, infusible material, coils adapted to conveyelectricity in the body and cover, said coils arranged to directlysurround the bloom or other article to be heated, said cover beingremovable and provided with a space adapted to receive a portion of saidbloom so that said bloom can extend beyond the body into said cover, asource of current-supply, and connection between said source ofcurrent-supply and the coils.

2. In an apparatus for heating blooms or other articles of metal, afurnace composed of a body and cover, the outer shell of said furnacebeing formed of fire-brick or similar material, alining'o1":non-conductive infusible material, coils adapted to conveyelectricity in the body and cover, said coils arranged to directlysurround the bloom or other article to be heated, said cover beingremovable and provided with a space adapted to receive a portion of saidbloom so than said bloom can extend beyond the body into said cover, asource of current-su iiply, and connection be tween said source ofcurrent-supply and the coils, and an infusible, non-conducting pacl ing'between said cover and the body of said furnace.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand.

Witnesses:

DANIEL CooLirDcn, A. J. BRYAN.

